


and though it seems absurd, I know we both won't say a word

by Sway



Category: Suits (US TV)
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Christmas fic, Established Relationship, M/M, Surprises, Suspicions, post-canon-ish
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-18
Updated: 2017-12-18
Packaged: 2019-02-16 19:08:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13060290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sway/pseuds/Sway
Summary: Harvey hates surprises. Always has.





	and though it seems absurd, I know we both won't say a word

**Author's Note:**

  * For [statusquo_ergo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/statusquo_ergo/gifts).



> Prompt: Either Mike or Harvey suddenly begins acting unusually secretive, and the other becomes suspicious, possibly attempting to find out what’s going on...
> 
> Ooooh, I hope you like it. I was really anxious about this one, trying to make it work without these guys getting OOC or just plain weird. I hope that worked out. Happy Holidays :)
> 
> Anything else: the title is from the song “the man I love” by George Gershwin; I’d also like to apologize to all the jazz aficionados out there because I have not one lick of clue about this genre; and as always special sloppy kisses to Aqua and Erin for hosting this and putting up with terrible prompt fillers like me :)

Harvey hates surprises. Always has.

Were he the self-reflecting type, it would probably lead him back to that day when he discovered his mother in bed with someone who wasn’t his dad.

He had always been a bit more cautious than his brother who made new friends just as easily as he lost them again. He despised surprise parties both as a guest and as the recipient. He hated people looking at him, waiting for a reaction and only ever expecting and accepting a positive one. 

He hated having to lie through his teeth, pretending he loved the new CD player he had never asked for because he prefered vinyl. 

He hated expecting his dad home for his birthday but getting a phone call the night before that Gordon had been asked to join this or that musician in the studio and that he couldn’t make it.

Harvey liked knowing what was coming at him so he could react accordingly. Which was often enough trumped in his job when opposing counsel threw him a curveball.

All the more reason why the loyalty of his friends and colleagues was so important to him.

But Harvey’s not the self-reflecting type so he just sticks with the fact that he hates surprises. Always has.

 

*

It starts when Harvey returns home late one night and finds Mike in the living room, sitting on the floor by the record player. Soft music is playing and Harvey's doesn’t need to see the pile of records strewn around Mike to recognize his dad playing on them.

“Since when are you into jazz?”

Mike gives a start, looking up from the record sleeve he’s engrossed in. “Are you trying to give me a heart attack?”

“Is it working?” Harvey strips out of his coat and jacket and unbuttons his shirt sleeves. 

“To answer your question…,” Mike ignores the remark, “since I’m into you.”

“Brilliant fraud, terrible liar.” Harvey leans down for an upside down kiss.

Mike shrugs. “I was just in the mood for it. Want me to turn it off?”

“No, it’s fine. I haven’t listened to that one in a while.” Something tugs on his insides for a fleeting second. “That was one of my dad’s favorite sessions. He kept raving about it for months.”

Mike clambers to his feet. “Wish I could’ve met him.”

“Yeah, me too.” Harvey is glad Mike kisses him then, easing him out of his tension. 

“Want a beer?”

“I think I might need something stronger tonight. This hostile takeover has Louis in an even crazier mood. Which is driving me crazy in the consequence.”

Again, Mike kisses him, slower this time. “Poor baby. Sit, I’ll get you a drink.”

“Thank you, Donna Reed.”

Harvey does sit down on the couch and gladly accepts the scotch Mike has poured for him. He also accepts the blowjob gives him. 

 

*

“Well, if there’s any way we can make it work, I take it.” Mike raises a hand when Harvey saunters into his office about a week later. He swivels his chair away, his phone tugged between his shoulder and ear. “I gotta go… Let me know when you hear anything… Yeah, I will. Bye.”

“What was that?” Harvey asks when Mike has hung up.

“Not a what, a who. Oliver called about a case he’s working on.”

“Good thing he’s so self-sufficient in his job.”

“Well, it’s not the only one who likes to keep a genius on his retainer.”

Harvey snorts indelicately. “Good thing you’re not full of yourself.”

Mike gives him the finger. “Is there anything you wanted?”

“Yeah, lunch.”

“Raincheck. I gotta finish up here first.”

Harvey frowns at him. Something is off about this but he can’t quite put a finger on it. “Suit yourself.” 

It won’t hit it until much later that Mike didn’t even have a file on his desk.

 

*

Two days later, Harvey interrupts another phone call that Mike cuts short a little too hurriedly.

The nonchalance with which Mike comes up with an explanation makes the hair in the back of Harvey’s neck stand on end. 

He tries to ignore it but the cautious part of his brain still files it away and makes sure it pops up on occasion.

 

*

This goes on over the course of the next four weeks.

Mike ends phone calls almost mid sentence when he sees Harvey approaching. 

Or he excuses himself before picking up, something he has never done before.

More often than he likes to admit, Harvey tries to catch a glimpse at the display before Mike quickly covers it with his hand. Once he even contemplates trying to get into Mike’s phone but immediately feels like an idiot for even considering it. 

One, he’s not a super spy, he can’t get past the fingerprint lock. 

And two… it’s Mike.

He trusts Mike, has so from the very first moment. And a few more or less dramatic setbacks aside, Mike has yet to break his trust. 

Yes, Mike makes stupid decisions (one of the more idiotic once being the reason why they met in the first place) but he’s not that stupid. 

It’s probably another case he shouldn’t be working on with Oliver. Yes, they have a deal but that doesn’t mean Harvey appreciates Mike spending more time and effort on the pro bono cases.

It’s got to be something like that.

There is no way Mike would… 

Harvey can’t even think it. 

He tries being rational about it. Just in terms of logistics, it’s not possible. Mike’s schedule is too tight for any sort of extra curricular activities. It’s that simple. 

And yet, when Mike closes his laptop as fast a teenager being caught watching porn, there’s that uncomfortable prickling in Harvey’s nape again that he can’t shake off.

 

*

“Is there something going on?” Harvey asks one night as they settle down in bed. 

“What do you mean?” Mike switches off the light on his side, fluffing up his pillow before he graceless flops down on it. 

Harvey hesitates. He has been putting off approaching Mike about it for quite some time because his suspicions are just ridiculous. It’s probably just his mind playing a trick on him, the stress and the workload of taking over the firm finally taking their toll on him. 

“You’ve been acting weird lately.”

Mike has to crane his neck to look at him over the bulge of his pillow. “Define weird.”

“Whenever you’re talking on the phone and you see me you hang up. You can’t close your laptop fast enough whenever I get near you.” It comes out in a run-on sentence which makes it all the more awkward.

“And you consider that weird?”

“Mike…”

Mike pushes himself up on his elbow. “And now you think that I…”

Harvey throws his hand up. “I don’t know what I think, alright? I just…” He pauses, unsure if and how to proceed. Whatever he’s about to say might just make things so much worse. “If there is something, I’d just like to know so I can… I want to know. Don’t keep things from me.”

That has Mike sit up and Harvey feels like an idiot for saying something in the first place. 

“Harvey, look at me.” Mike has to nudge him to draw his attention back to his face and up from a very interesting spot on the sheets. “There is nothing going on, okay? You know I would never… Never, alright?”

That’s the thing about suspicion and doubt. They don’t just go away because someone says so. “Then what is it? It’s not just some case you’re working on with Oliver.”

Mike’s shoulders sag and something tugs on Harvey, something unpleasant. “No, it’s not.”

Harvey just looks at him, unable to press for more. This is stupid and foolish and he shouldn’t jump to any conclusions when Mike hesitates to go on. But that train of thought has already picked up speed and there’s no stop ahead.

“I was talking to your brother.”

“Marcus?”

“Unless you have another secret family I don’t know about.”

“Can you be serious?”

Mike sighs as if he’s trying to muster up some patience. “I am serious. He called a few weeks ago, asking if we were coming up to Boston for Christmas again.”

“And that’s what turned you into the man from U.N.C.L.E.?”

Mike nudges him in the thigh. “Come on, you know what our schedules are like. There’s a lot of things that needed to be moved around. I was trying to get us decent flights but everything is already booked and renting a car has been a nightmare so far.”

“You could have told me that.” 

“Well… Marcus asked if he could invite your mother and her husband.”

Harvey’s mouth goes dry. “And what did you say?”

“That I would like to meet her and that she should finally meet the man who drives her son crazy.”

“You did not say that.”

“Or did I?” Mike steals a kiss from him. “Relax. I didn’t say that. I implied it, though. But… as it turns around, she’s away on a cruise around Christmas and won’t make it.”

Harvey isn’t sure if he should feel relieved or not. He has had The Talk with his mother and had finally come to terms with his feelings about her and what she had done. But that didn’t mean he wanted to spend the holidays with the entire family and, to put even more pressure on it, introduce Mike to her. She would take to him just as quickly as Marcus and Katie had - and who wouldn’t - but it still felt too much all at once. 

“Harvey?” Again, Mike nudges him. “You okay?”

Harvey clears his throat. “Yeah, I’m… I just hate surprises, you know?”

“Yeah? Never would have guessed.”

“I’m serious, I… I’d love to go up there for Christmas but… no surprises, okay?”

“So I will call off the dancing reindeer. Got it.”

Harvey is on him then, pinning him to the mattress. “Promise me. No surprises.”

Mike beams up at him. “Okay, I promise. No remote family members, no singing Santa, no convoluted proposals…”

Harvey stiffens. “Mike…”

“Oh my god, would you relax? Did you think I was going to propose to you? On Christmas? Even I am not that tacky.”

Harvey clears his throat. “Good. Because that’s clearly my part.”

“Oh really? How very 21st century of you.” Mike leans up for a kiss. “Now make love to me, you ape, before I do rent that sexy Santa costume.”

“Well, that… you can still do that.”

 

*

Harvey does get a surprise when he returns from the gym the week before Christmas.

It's the better kind of surprise, though.

Home alone, Mike has decorated. Nothing too tacky, nothing like the Christmas-a-palooza Marcus has inspired him with. It's really just a dash of festiveness with a garland along the mantelpiece and some fairy lights wrapped around the pillar in the living room. There's also an assortment of ornaments in a vase on the kitchen counter.

“Too much?” Mike asks when he notices Harvey taking in the new decor.

“No, I like it,” Harvey replies. And he does. He’s never been one for decorations but this actually really nice, giving this place the homey and - yes, he’ll go there - Christmas-y feel is subconsciously missed in the last decade or so.

“Good, ‘cause it’s staying.”

“I love how I get a say in this.”

Mike beams at him. “I know, right?” He walks over to Harvey from where he’s been arranging another string of garland on the dining table and places a peck to his lips. “Marcus called, by the way. I told him we’ll be coming in on the 23rd.”

“Why so earlier?”

“Because Katie asked me to help her with cooking dinner. And since you are totally useless in the kitchen…”

Harvey pinches him in the side. “I am a good cook, thank you. And besides, Marcus owns a restaurant.”

“Which is exactly why he doesn’t want to work during the holidays.”

An argument Harvey can relate to. In a surprisingly unanimous vote, they had decided to close the firm during the holidays, something that hadn’t happened for the past… in a long time. Aside from the family reunion, the only thing he and Mike had scheduled were ice skating in front of the Rockefeller Center (of course that was Mike’s idea), binge-watching Netflix shows and copious amounts of sex.

“So while you and my sister in law are in the kitchen… what am I going to do?” Harvey teases him.

Mike wraps an arm around his waist and pinches his buttcheek. “You.. can sit in the parlor and smoke cigars.”

“You are a very weird person.”

“You ain’t seen nothing yet.”

There something in that tone that makes Harvey’s breath catch. Of course, Mike notices the little flare of his nostrils, the stiffening in his posture. 

“Relax. The only surprise will be me wearing just the apron in the bedroom later that night.” Mike leans in for a kiss.

“Now you spoiled it.”

“Like I said… you ain’t seen nothing yet.”

 

*

 

Marcus meets them in the driveway, stealthily guiding the rental and the containing gifts for Mae and Alexis into the garage.

"Looks who's made it for his annual family dinner?" He pulls Harvey into a bear hug.

"I'm still in my coat and you're already giving me shit?"

"Little brother duties."

Mike gets the same treatment sans the shit-giving and then they're ushered inside where Marcus's daughters drop their popcorn-garland and immediately launch themselves at their guests.

After the first round of welcome and coffee, Katie whisks Mike away into the kitchen.

"Domestic bliss suits you, Harvey." Marcus beams at him. "I'm glad you finally came around."

"So am I." Harvey sips from his coffee. "But don't tell Mike that or I'll never hear the end of it."

"Your secret's safe with me." A beat passes between them. "You haven't told him yet?"

"He knows." The answer comes a little too quickly and Harvey cringes at his own words.

"Unless he's some motherfucking Jedi, you should tell him. With your words. Trust me, it does wonders to your domestic bliss if you know what I mean."

"No, I don't 'cause you're so subtle."

Marcus beams at him with that shit-eating Specter-smile. It does run in the family, Harvey's nieces are the living proof.

*

Harvey doesn't see a lot of Mike for the rest of the day. He only catches glimpses of him when the girls bound in and out of the kitchen and the swinging door allows him a blink-and-you-missed-it glance.

Once he goes into the kitchen himself to get new beers for him and Marcus and finds Mike on the back porch, just finishing a text message.

"You okay?" He makes it a point not to announce himself, successfully startling Mike into almost dropping his phone.

"Yeah, yeah," Mike says, caught off-guard. "All good."

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, you just crept up on me like a stalker and scared the shit out of me.”

"That's what you get for hiding out in the dark."

"You really are paranoid, aren't you?" Mike pulls him into a kiss that only does so much to appease him. "There are going to be no surprises." He enunciates each word carefully.

"Okay, I believe you." Harvey holds up his hands in defeat. "Are you getting done soon?"

"Just some more slicing and dicing and then I'll just drop dead into bed."

Harvey doesn't give him that chance. Instead he quite literally devours Mike who is trying his little best to keep quiet, his fist pressed against his mouth when he comes.

*

The day of Christmas Eve starts way too early. 

While Harvey would have suspected the girls to be overly excited, it’s actually Marcus who wakes them for breakfast. Afterwards, Katie drags Mike off to do some shopping with her, leaving Harvey and Marcus to their own devices. They end up finishing the decorations outside - how on Earth can one family own that many lights? - and have the girls strongarm them into watching Frozen. Twice.

When Mike and Katie return they immediate barricade themselves in the kitchen again to prepare the Christmas feast. 

It is indeed a feast. With the most spectacular turkey Harvey has ever had, loaded sweet potatoes and roasted vegetables. 

Even though all of them are perfectly stuffed, there’s a frozen Black Forest cheesecake for dessert that nobody in their right mind would or could say no to.

After coffee is served, the girls are ushered to bed and Marcus takes it upon himself to load the dishwasher. Of course, Katie has to help because he can’t do it right. Or pretends to so she’ll do it after all, the jury is still out on that one. 

“Dinner was amazing, Mike,” Harvey says when Mike curls up to him on the couch, the fairy lights from the tree flickering across his face. 

“Thank you. Katie did most of the work, though. I just helped.”

“Santa’s little helper... “ Harvey kisses the crown of his head. “We should do that more often.”

“OD on turkey?”

“No, just… cooking, having an actual sit-down dinner.”

Mike cranes his neck to look up at him. “Like grown-ups do? At the table and everything?”

“Sound weird?”

“Sound good.” MIke slips a hand underneath Harvey’s sweater. “Hey listen… would you be… really mad if I said I got you something for Christmas?”

Harvey looks at him. Or at the top of his head because Mike has his gaze fixed on Harvey’s knee. “We agreed not to exchange gifts.”

“I know but… I saw this today and I couldn’t walk past it without thinking ‘Harvey would love it’. So I got it. I can… it can wait until after Christmas if…”

Harvey knows when he’s lost. “I can’t say no, can I?”

“Not really.”

“Alright. Do your worst.”

There’s a buzzing sensation in the back of Harvey’s neck when Mike gets up off the couch to retrieve something from the hallway. He isn’t really sure what to expect and he knows that he’s most likely overthinking it, not that he would ever admit that.

When Mike returns, he’s holding an envelope. As he spots Harvey’s somewhat spooked expression, he grins. “What’s with the face?”

“Nothing.”

“Doesn’t look like nothing but anyway… Merry Christmas, Harvey.” Rather unceremoniously, he sticks the envelope into Harvey’s face. 

Harvey opens it, one eyebrow going up. “You got us tickets to Scullers?”

“I saw a poster today when was shopping with Katie. They have a Christmas concert slash party on the 26th and… I thought you might want to go.”

“But you’re not into jazz.”

Mike nudges him with his knee. “Told you… I’m into you.”

Harvey pulls him into a long kiss. “Thank you, Mike.” He goes in for an encore. “I haven’t been there in ages. My dad played there whenever he was in Boston.”

“So I guess I am forgiven for this little surprise?”

“I’ll think about that”

“Is there any way I can…” Mike wriggles his brows at him in the most ridiculous way.

“Can you at least wait until you’re alone?” Marcus chooses the very moment when Mike runs his hand up Harvey’s thigh to return with three glasses of scotch.

“Obviously not.” Harvey only makes a half-assed attempt to disentangle himself from Mike but gladly accepts the drink as well.

Later that night after Katie has set up cookies and a glass of milk for Santa - Mike gets one, too, for good measure - Mike has to promise the tickets will be the only present exchanged. He is rewards with a spectacular blowjob on Christmas morning. 

*

Mae and Alexis perfectly occupy Mike for the entire Christmas morning. 

Once or twice Harvey tries to bust him out of his nieces’ stronghold but he insists on playing with them and trying the new board game Santa brought for them. 

Later that day they go for a walk in the snowed-in Boston suburb and Harvey finds himself holding Mike’s hand, something they never do in Manhattan. 

So much for surprises. 

*

Marcus is back to work on the 26th and Katie is taking the kids to her mother so she might finally get the chance to clean up some of the Christmas mayhem.

Mike and Harvey head into the city for lunch and have lobster rolls at Faneuil Hall. They take a walk along the river, have some coffee and then head to Harvard. Mike insists on taking the MBTA and they get off at Harvard Square.

The college campus is not as deserted as Mike has expected but it's still empty enough for them to aimlessly stroll around without bumping into people all the time.

Harvey takes the chance to show Mike around a bit, his old lecture all and where he had holed himself up to study.

"You're adorable when you're being nostalgic." Mike stops in the middle of the square in front of Harvard Law and pulls him into a kiss.

Harvey drags it out because Mike tastes like the hot chocolate he's had.

"If I'm boring you..."

"No, absolutely not. It's nice to see this place through your eyes and not some overly enthusiastic guide’s."

"Shame you missed out on it." Harvey cups his face, kisses him again.

Mike smile ruefully. "Ain't that the truth."

"Maybe we should get you a Harvard sweater," Harvey says, his expression serious but the glitter in his eyes gives away the mischief.

"I rather sleep in yours. One that was... earned. You know what I mean?"

"And you think you earn to sleep in mine?"

"Well, I am sleeping with you. Second degree of separation."

"What are you? Some kind of lawyer?"

Just as Harvey leans into him for another kiss, Mike's phone rings. He worms it out of his inside pocket and glances at the screen.

"Your torrid affair again?" Harvey tries to make it sound like a joke but it dies a little on him.

"Exactly." Mike doesn't catch his tone. He holds up the phone. "Oliver."

The display does in fact read "Oliver Grady".

"Go ahead, take it," Harvey says in defeat.

"It can wait." Mike shuts off the call. "Now... Show me where the infamous Harvey Specter went through his sexual experimentation phase."

Harvey has to laugh at that. "You're standing in the very place."

"You did not...."

"Did, too."

"You're impossible."

"That's what he said."

 

*

During the afternoon, Mike gets nervous, antsy even. He keeps checking his phone every five minutes.

“When’s your wife due?” Harvey asks after the twentieth check.

“What?”

“Your phone?”

Mike blushes. “Oh… sorry. It’s just… they said there’s a blizzard coming in and I keep checking if the concert might get cancelled.”

“If it is, there’s nothing we can do about it. Stop fretting, you’re making me nervous.”

It’s obvious that it takes a lot of Mike’s willpower to stop checking his weather alert after that but he does stick his phone into his inside pocket again and takes Harvey’s hand instead.

 

*

They take a cab to Scullers and when they get there, there’s already a line in front of the entrance. 

“Who is playing in that concert tonight?” Harvey asks incredulously, eyeing the people in front of him. 

“You do know that I know nothing about jazz, right?”

“Yes, but you do consume knowledge like no one else and once you’ve read something you don’t forget it. And knowing you, you did google after buying these tickets.”

Mike bumps his shoulder into Harvey. “You know me disturbingly well.”

“So?”

“I’m not telling.”

“Mike…”

“You’re also disturbingly suspicious. Let’s just go in and enjoy this evening, okay?” Mike won’t let him protest. Instead, he presses a kiss to his mouth and pushes him along at the queue starts to move. 

Inside the club, they find a table in one of the booths off to the side and order a first round of drinks. It doesn’t take long for the rest of the people to filter in and the lights to dim down. 

A man in rumpled suits steps on stage, tapping against a microphone. 

“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Scullers. And welcome to this very special night which is pretty much a Night of Legends. Most of you are friends and family so I don’t need to introduce our artists tonight. So without further ado, I’ll open the stage and… enjoy.”

Harvey casts a curious glance at Mike who has his eyes fixed on the stage.

First up is a man of about eighty years who steps up to a string bass, running a hand over the polished wood of the instrument.

“Mike, do you have any idea who that man is?” Harvey leans into him trying his best to keep a tremor from his voice.

“If I recall correctly, that’s Ron Carter. The most-recorded jazz bassist in the world.”

That earns them a little sideway glance from lady sitting in front of them.

Ron is followed by two more men of roughly the same age, one of them wearing a bright red shirt with dancing Santas. He sits down at the piano while the other man takes up the stool behind the drumset. 

At last, a woman steps on stage, younger than the men but also well in her seventies. She picks up a saxophone from the stand next to the mic. When she has fastened it to the strap around her neck, she steps up to the mic. 

“Ladies and gentlemen, we’re here to celebrate Christmas with you but also to honor a man who had left too soon and who we all had the pleasure to play with. A man who wasn’t just talented but also a genius in spirit.” Her eyes dart up and for the briefest of seconds they meet Harvey’s, sending a shiver down his spine. “This is for Gordon.”

Harvey doesn’t notice the look Mike gives him. He doesn’t notice a whole lot of what is going on around him. He just has his eyes fixed on the stage where Ron Carter, Johnny Rae, Chick Corea and Carol Sudhalter are starting to a play a concert. A concert dedicated to his dad.

They’ve all played with him at some point, sometimes in concerts, sometimes on various records. Harvey hasn’t met either of them in person but he recalls hearing his dad talk about them. Chick was even on the record he had caught Mike listening to a couple of weeks ago. 

Mike…

“Excuse me, is that seat taken?” someone stage-whispers behind them, then Marcus slides into the booth next to him, Katie taking the seat as well.

“What are you doing here?” Harvey asks, once again getting a look from the lady in front. 

“You haven’t told him yet?” Marcus asks in Mike’s direction. 

“There wasn’t time yet,” Mike answers, raising a hand in apology to the angry lady. 

“What is going on?” Harvey hates surprises. Always has. 

“We’ll talk later, okay? Please?” There is something in Mike’s expression that keeps Harvey from demanding an explanation right away even though he’s barely holding on to that last shred of patience.

The concert commences, a mixture of Christmas songs in jazzed up versions mixed with popular and lesser known pieces. The show is peppered with little anecdotes and stories, some of which Harvey can recall, some he hasn’t heard yet. 

After almost an hour, Carol announces a fifteen minute break. As soon as they’ve cleared the stage, Harvey is out of his seat and heads for the exit. He doesn’t hear Mike calling after him. 

He’s out on the street and the cold air hits him like a punch in the gut. Which is just what he has been looking for. He draws in a breath and it hurts in his lungs but he helps to clear his head, if only just a little. For the past hour, his mind has been running a mile a minute, trying to piece all of this together but he can’t quite work it out. 

“Harvey… you alright?” 

Mike… 

“You did this.” It’s not a question. 

“You’re making it sound like it’s the Spanish Inquisition.” Mike hesitates when he notices his joke has fallen a little flat. “Surprise…”

“How?”

“I made some calls. A _lot_ of calls.”

Harvey finally turns to him, finding him standing a few feet away with his jacket pulled tight around his body, trying to ward off the cold. There’s an anxious expression on Mike’s face, almost like he’s afraid. When Harvey doesn’t say anything, Mike throws his hands up, immediately regretting that decision when the cool air whisps under his jacket.

“It was supposed to be a thank you.”

“What for?”

Mike rolls his eyes like Harvey is being really stupid. Which he probably is. “For everything. For the past… I don’t even know for how long you’ve been… you’ve always had my back. Even when I went behind yours. You stood up for me when you knew me for all of five minutes. Everything that’s happened… I owe it to you. You have done so much for me I can’t even begin to… so I thought I gave something back.”

For a long while neither of them speaks.

“You brought together some of the greatest living legends in jazz history… to play a concert dedicated to my dad… to thank me for giving you a job?” Harvey says in as much disbelief as he feels. 

“And for… believing in me when no one else would. For trusting me. For giving me so many chances although I didn’t deserve them. For… goddamnit, Harvey, you got me out of prison and into the Bar. For…” Mike’s words get warbled and he falls silent, shaking his head. “I thought it was a good idea.”

“I love you, Mike.”

It comes without preamble and has Mike look up at him again, blue eyes wide and glittering. “You haven’t said that before.” He cringes at his own words. “I mean….”

“I thought you knew.”

“I do. I knew. I know. But…”

“You did this-” Harvey gestures at the club, shaking his head incredulously “-for me.”

Mike shrugs. “‘Cause I love you, too.” He huffs a little awkward laugh. “Surprise.”

“Yeah, not really.”

“Fuck you.”

“Maybe later.”

Mike takes a shuffling little step forward. “So… am I forgiven for all the secrecy? I really wanted to tell you but this thing was a bitch to plan and I didn’t want to jinx it because it almost fell apart at the last minute. You have no idea how busy these guys are around Christmas.”

“Yeah, my dad was, too.” Harvey reaches out a hand. “Come here.” “Mike’s fingers are icey. “You have no idea what this means to me.”

“Yeah, Marcus said something to that extent.”

“So he was in on this, too.”

“Little brother duty, yeah.”

Harvey pulls him into a kiss then, long and deep. “Thank you, Mike. This is just...” There really are no words for it, at least none that come to his mind just now.

“You’re very welcome. Before the frostbite kills us… about that forgiveness… you think I can work that off tonight?” Mike gives him a cheeky grin. 

“In a house full of kids.”

“Well, I did book us a room here at the hotel, so…”

“You really are full of surprises, aren’t you?” Harvey kisses him again.

“Good think you don’t hate me.”

“No, I don’t.”

 

*

The concert lasts over another hour and afterwards, Harvey and Marcus go to meet the musicians. They sit down for drinks until way past midnight, exchanging stories about Gordon Specter, their concerts and their recording sessions. Carol has even brought an album with her that contains dozens of photos Harvey hasn’t seen yet. She promises to send him copies and he pulls her into a tight hug. 

It’s the only time Harvey lets go of Mike’s hand.

Harvey hates surprises. Always has. 

But he might just love this one.


End file.
